Ten years ago, while working at Aetna, Henry Huang and I designed and launched the successful General Manager / P&L Program. Our primary goal was to increase participants’ ability to manage businesses at various life stages and levels of complexity. A secondary objective was to accelerate …
Principles of Development
Build Effective Leadership Teams
Over my career, I’ve observed, coached, and guided thousands of clients, from CEOs and presidents of Fortune 500 companies to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Getting promoted to the executive level, or the c-suite is difficult. In my experience I’ve identified three critical abilities to …
Two Plus One Principle
I’ve observed and worked with many successful leaders across business, government, and philanthropy. Many of them develop a towering strength over time. But I’ve noticed that highly successful leaders develop a second strength which is unusual for their field. This, coupled with emotional …
The Accelerator Principle
Getting a job before you are ready is the most common accelerator of long-term career progression. I’ve worked with and advised executives for a long time. First as a banker financing mergers and acquisitions. As a strategist helping teams of C-suite leaders chart the future direction of their …
The Opportunity Principle
There are always job opportunities, the trick is to match your approach with the employer’s motivation. We need to be great salespeople when looking for a job. What image comes to mind when you hear the word salesperson? Is it the pushy, untrustworthy person trying to pressure you into buying a …
The Belief / Behavior Principle
The Law of Attraction: like attracts like; we attract into our life whatever we focus on. We’ve all had The Experience… You’ve purchased a new car, worn a new piece of clothing, or discovered a new show or podcast. Now you see that same make or model of car everywhere. You notice others are …
Navigate Barriers Using the In Group / Out Group Principle
A successful career progression strategy is governed by the perception of whether you are part of the “in-group” or “out-group”. I have observed that clients find it more difficult to adopt successful career strategies and breakdown barriers to success if they adopt an “us/them” mentality. …
The Expectation Principle
The speed and altitude of your career progression is limited by the expectations of your manager and senior leadership. This simple, but often neglected, principle affects many careers. Imagine two employees – Potential Paul and Steady Steve (I know the names are contrived and silly, but it will …